City of Brass

Lend unto God. Give a loan of the leafage of this body,
That in exchange a garden may grow in your heart.
Give a loan, diminish the body’s food,
that you may see that which the eye has not seen.
When the body becomes empty,
God fills it with musk and glorious pearls.

All desires, affections, loves and fondness people have of all sorts of things, such as fathers, mothers, friends, the heavens and the earth, gardens, pavilions, works, knowledge, food and drink – one should realize that every desire is a desire for food, and such things are “veils”. When one passes beyond this world and sees that King without these “veils”, then one will realize that all those things were “veils” and “coverings” and that what they were seeking was in reality that one thing. All problems will then be solved. All heart’s questions and difficulties will be answered, and everything will become clear.

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out
of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
When you’re full of food and drink, Satan sits
where your spirit should, an ugly metal statue
in place of the Kaaba. When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents,
Jesus’ table.
Expect to see it when you fast, this table
spread with other food, better than the broth
of cabbages.

We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power; And what will explain to thee what the night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s permission, on every errand of Peace. This until the rise of morn!

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In just five brief verses, the Qur’an reveals the purpose of the Night of Power – an amplification of our ibadat at the very summit of Ramadan. We submit to its power as we stay awake all night in prayer – every act magnified a thousandfold.

Different schools of thought in Islam disagree on when Laylatul Qadr occurs, but all agree that this is the marathon for which the rest of Ramadan prepared us – not physically, but spiritually and mentally. On this night, we are surrounded by Allah’s angels on their errands of peace. And we strive to join them – asymptotically, towards an ideal of perfection we as mortal humans cannot ever truly attain, but towards which we can always move. Ramadan is the month of Jihad, and Laylatul Qadr is the pinnacle and epitome of our jihad.

I never achieve what I hope to achieve, but I do achieve something. And that is the entire point.

Eid at the State DepartmentI am honored to be invited to celebrate Eid al Fitr at the State Department again this year. And I am relieved that this time, it's actually taking place after Ramadan, which means I can actually attend for the first time! :) I am looking ...

The Empire State goes green for EidAs is tradition, the Empire State Building - the most beautiful skyscraper in the world - was illuminated in green to mark Eid al Fitr. Of course, in 2015, this is announced via the official twitter account ...

Ramadan Pearls roundupHere is a link to all the posts in the Ramadan Pearls series I did during Ramadan:
Criterion
Non-existence
Mystery
Angels
Objective
Expectant
Reed
Veils
Lend
Good
I hope you enjoyed these nuggets of wisdom as much as ...

Eid Mubarak!By the Fatimid calendar, today is Eid al Fitr, 1436!
I've explained my position on the calendar vs. moonsighting debate in detail - and this year there is a lot more divergence on the date than usual. Crescentwatch nicely ...

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About City of Brass

City of Brass by Aziz Poonawalla approaches issues from the perspective of a Muslim of the West. Aziz, a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, has been blogging since early 2003 and co-founded the Brass Crescent Awards for the muslim blogsphere.